Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge
Arrivals
19.11.2008
Webber who flew into Tasmania last Friday will line up alongside corporate teams, amateur and elite athletes to slog out the 280km course, finishing in Hobart next Sunday.
Barrington put on a stunning day for the arrival of the competitors including two porters from Papua New Guinea; Javith Ababu and Gibson Kemori have never been outside of PNG and will experience adventure racing for the very first time this week.
Tomorrow morning will see competitors kayaking Dove Lake, trekking to the summit of the snow capped Cradle Mountain before finishing at the International Rowing Course at Lake Barrington.
The event has already had one late scratching. Webber’s first partner of the week – leading Australian female adventure racer, Christie Sym, has had to withdraw due to injury. Emma Weitnauer, a Tasmanian triathlete and adventure racer has agreed to step in to partner Webber for the first two days, before actor Daniel MacPherson joins him for the final three days.
Also joining the Challenge for the first time is a man not unfamiliar with challenges and adversity. World and Australian Paralympic Champion Michael Milton is one of Australia’s most successful and recognised athletes – having won 11 Paralympic medals. He is the first Australian to win gold at a Winter Olympics or Paralympics in 1992. Milton has joined the group of 60+ competitors and will tackle the trekking with the aid of crutches and the mountain biking on a specially modified bike.
“Being an amputee provides it’s own set of challenges but everyone here for the event has their own personal challenges. It’s how you choose to handle them decides if you’ll be successful or not. I’m thrilled to be involved in this event. I’ve become known for my speed downhills but the summit of Cradle is going to be one of my toughest trips yet.�
Competitors were picked up from Launceston Airport in a fleet of 12 seat vans and transported to their base camp at Lake Barrington. After enjoying a sumptuous Welcome Dinner competitors will settle down to study their maps and plan their course for the first day of competition will take them around and up the summit of the intimidating Cradle Mountain.
Challenge Race Director Tim Saul is hoping the weather stays clear, “Two days ago there was a small amount of snow cover on Cradle. Most of this will have melted by tomorrow when our competitors are heading up there. We take all precautions to ensure their safety but we aim to push the competitors to their limits on this first day of the competition. It’s important to strip them back and rebuild them over the coming four days. The event for many is about personal growth and learning about ones limits.�
Over the next five days the Challenge competitors will complete over 280kms of trekking, mountain biking and kayaking throughout Tasmania. Starting at Cradle Mountain and the Triple Tops of Mount Roland, Van Dyke and Claude, then moving onto Launceston and Port Arthur at the end of the week. The finish will be at Salamanca Place, Hobart on Sunday 23 November.
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